Labour peer backs calls for dedicated CPS antisemitism unit

A Labour peer who was heavily involved in action to root out antisemitism from her party is backing calls for the establishment of a team in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dedicated to supporting the prosecution of offences motivated by Jew-hatred.

Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath, who oversaw the creation of an independent complaints process for internal disciplinary matters involving antisemitism in Labour following damning findings by the equalities watchdog, has said the creation of a dedicated unit in the CPS would help tackle the “normalisation” of antisemitism.

She and a cross-party group of peers have made the call in the wake of figures showing hate crimes against Muslims are almost twice as likely to result in prosecution as those against Jews.

Ramsey told The Times: “Antisemitism isn’t just rising, it’s being normalised in plain sight. Things that would once have been called out are now either ignored or worse, justified. That’s how it takes hold.

“For Jewish communities, it means a growing sense that everyday life is becoming less safe. And it cannot be left to Jewish people alone to call this out. Those of us who are not Jewish have a responsibility to speak up. When hatred starts to feel routine, we should all be worried.”

Any newly established unit would collect data related to antisemitic prosecutions to ensure failures and gaps are addressed, because at present, prosecutions are handled by a number of CPS teams, with no single point of oversight or national mechanism for tracking the crimes.

The proposal was initially put forward as an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill in the House of Lords last week by Lord Mendelsohn.

But it failed to get sufficient support.

Now, in the aftermath of the arson attack on a Jewish ambulance service in Golders Green, north London, it is hoped that the government will reconsider the proposal.

Lord Hanson of Flint, a Home Office minister, told Lords: “There are a range of other communities who regularly face attack, but I do share his concern that the Jewish community is being singled out. And from the prime minister downwards in this government, we will take a stand against antisemitism. We will not tolerate it, and we will take steps to both protect the Jewish community, but ultimately to drive out the causes of those attacks in the first place.”

The CPS stated that it was challenging to compare reports of crimes with prosecutions because a file of evidence was required to make a charging decision.